My Interview With Tom Lucero
Over the last several weeks, both the local and national media have been aflutter over the tough re-election race faced by Betsy Markey in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District. For local pundits and political insiders, however, that comes as little surprise because most knew that even before Markey began her first-term, she was occupying a seat that has been Republican for well over thirty years.
Indeed, even before she was sworn into office, Berthoud Republican, Tom Lucero, who is finishing his second term on the CU Board of Regents, declared his intention to challenge Ms. Markey. Since declaring his candidacy, however, his campaign has been plagued by problems, including staff shakeups and poor name recognition, weak fundraising numbers, as well as a strong primary challenge from Yuma Republican, Cory Gardner, whose campaign appears to be an unstoppable freight train.
Dean Madere’s Elusive Republic: An Interview with a Political Outsider
For political observers, the Republican primary contest in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional district is a foregone conclusion. State representative Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) is the run-away favorite to challenge incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey in November. Gardner carries the blessing of the national party as one of the RNC’s ‘Young Guns,’ a national organization designed for the top GOP challengers in the country, and he has been the presumptive favorite since he entered the race almost a year ago. In fact, Fort Collins City Councilman Diggs Brown, Gardner’s most competitive challenger, dropped out after finishing a distant second in a preference poll taken during the Republican caucuses on March 17th.
Not all of Gardner’s opponents have taken his impressive showing as a reason to quit, however. Dean Madere of Loveland has decided to continue with his insurgency campaign . Only entering the race last November, Madere’s candidacy is the product of the burgeoning 9-12 and Tea Party Movements in Northern Colorado, where he also draws most of his support. His campaign war-chest is so meager that he isn’t required to file a campaign financial report. Nevertheless, despite the diminutive size of his grassroots campaign, his supporters are motivated and passionate, and because of that, he still managed to register 11% in the preference poll done at the GOP caucuses in March.
Primary Colors: Story of a GOP Primary Debate
The image of Cory Gardner’s six by four foot campaign poster falling off the wall behind him during his closing remarks serves as a telling metaphor for the CD-4 Republican primary debate Thursday night: It capped the end of a lackluster performance by the Republican front-runner hoping to unseat Congresswoman Betsy Markey in the fall. Instead, the night belonged to the other three men on the stage: Diggs Brown, Tom Lucero, and Dean Madere.
Gardner’s focus-group-tested jokes, and polished demeanor fell flat, and his presence was overshadowed by the grit, energy, and passion of the other three GOP candidates who really seemed to connect with the most fervent elements of the Republican grassroots—the tea party and 9/12 group activists—who made up the core of the audience at Mountain View High School in Loveland.
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